September 29, 2004

???... im thinking of you.

MR. ??, died at a young age in a tragic car crash. here is a popular 1989 tape release of his, i found it in a trashcan. for a listen, visit this website. for a bit more about the albumn "thinking of you', visit here...

September 28, 2004

squid and girl

September 22, 2004

i wish i had time...

but then i would probably be reading these instead of doing something constructive anyhow...

if you like to read more, the pictures will lead you to there respective homes. i'd highly recomend subscribing to the bitpass to read "the right number". although it only costs 25 cents to read Mr. McCloud's comic, it does take at least 3$ to start a bitpass account. but, they are very trustworthy, and there are lots of other comics you can find to spend the last 2.75$ (well, i haven't actually yet tried to find... but so i hear).

anyhow, i had gotten really excited because suddenly i remembered about comic books, and not the crazy japanese/taiwanese bookstore kind. and then i remembered about scott mcclouds internet comic extravaganza of a website and how i hadn't yet picked through every last peice, and then i remember how i had been eagerly awaiting the next edition of "wrong number" and then i went to the website and saw the add for the new addition, and then i nearly peed my pants from excitement trying to figuer out what password i had used for my ancient bit pass, and then i found it, and then i put it in... and... it was the same comic i had read months earlier. what a dissapointment. but, not really, because i still think its an ingenious comic, and am glad to share it on hiho.

so... now im getting back to work. i am a bit busy. the kind of busy and exhausted and stressed out that makes you nauseas and lightheaded thinking about it. but... things shall work out, as they always do. and, this has taken me 3 hours to write because every 5 minutes a new person comes to look at the place and i forget what i was writing. so... i guess i will leave it at that and return to more important matters.

oh, i nearly forgot. thanks william for pointing me in the direction of ojingogo, and yu-wen for natalie dee. and, check out topshelf comix for some of my favorite comics, and lambiek's website for some great comics, including a complete history of dutch comics! very interesting, some dating back to the 1800's. i knew there was something about the dutch i would find interesting, i just never expected to find it.

September 17, 2004

my little spectacles

Panasonic DVX 200A

also....Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is coming to fembooks on 10/16 from 2:00-4:30. her 4 films will be showing at president cinema in ximen ding from 10/15-10/22. also read this for more on Bani-Etemad.

also.. something tommarrow. i have to go to bed though, maybe i will post about it tommarrow. oh yes... and also i am desperatly seeking a solo apartment on a roof somewhere in the da'an/shida/taida distract. i really want to get my own place next month, and can't imagine living anywhere other than a roof. like living on a desserted island admist a sea of concrete... i think thats where i want to study and/or watch typhoons.

September 14, 2004

the loneliest of flowers

September 13, 2004

friction love

yesterday was a lovely day.

yu-wen and i finished up at the tailly high film festival by watching the animation super cup. its been a successful last few weeks, as far as movie watching goes. i keep forgetting not to sit in the front row though, it rather embarrassing being two feet away from the speakers as they struggle through awkward questions. well, im looking forward to the next film festival. unless i want to travel to tao chueng, i think that will be in jan/feb with the international childrens film festival. hopefully i will have something to submit by then.

after tailly high, we fled the spot and greeted a huge queue of kids at the taipei museum of contemporary arts for the friction/love show.

there we met with two of yu-wen's lovely friends, maggie and huen-wen (excuse me, i still am struggling with chinese). both very nice girls equally intriqued by film, art, and literature, and made for very entertaining company. i was very pleased with what we saw. of course i really enjoyed the nara exhibit and spend quite awhile examining the mixed cd playlists inside his makeshift summer house. i was happy to find both the locust and lightning bolt of one list. i was very dissapointed that they had run out of his postcards in the gift shop. i was looking forward to lugging home piles of trivial nara paraphanalia, but nope, i have to wait until next week.

i don't really have time to talk about the exhibits unfortunatly. i have lots of homework to do and a long day ahead of me. but i will shortly post some pictures of my favorite peices. of course, i realzied cameras weren't allowed inside the exhibit, but... im sneaky that way. i really should scan the tickets though to share on hiho. they were really lovely.

afterwards, we hit the MRT and made our way back to heping dong lu for a huge meal at "college town buffet"; a three story buffet hosting all you can eat grill, hotpot, and cold dishes. quite a treat really, i don't think ive ever eating so much food in my life; and all for 200 quai.

also, i think i typhoon came through again this weekend. im not entirely sure though, knobody seemed to notice this time. its not as exciting when you don't have any work or school to miss. but i did have lots of fun riding my scooter through the heavy rains and puddles. i honostly think thats my favorite part of taiwan, riding my scooter at 60 kmh through heavy rain and puddles, with my feet down skidding ontop of nearly and inch and a half of rainwater. its just like water skiiing!

September 10, 2004

oh boy...

work is incredibly insane, and school is... schoolish. i need to wake up, i need to slow down, and i need to take a deep breath.

so, i have a girlfriend now, and am had as a boyfriend. kind of supprising. honostly i never thought i'd date anyone in taiwan, and now i am dating someone absolutly wonderfull. her name is yu-wen, and i will try to take a photograph or draw a picture to introduce her on hiho. but right now, i need to sit down and have some tea.

also, i love the geisha asobi blog, and must thank her for absorbing a bit of my free time this week. i think i stared at this puzzle for over an hour.

i still don't fully understand it, so i guess now the only way i can feel better than it is to make one of my own. i've already tried this yesterday, but it doesn't really work as well with photographs of real people. the thing is, how can it be 12 people and then 13 without adding or subtracting any heads!! it blows my mind. of course i know the trick, but i still don't comprehend the logistics. i wonder if this is what big corporations do with their employees, can i do that with my english students? a little off the top of there heads here, chop off a few toes, and suddenly i have another private.

i should be doing something else. why do i try to take on so much at once.

September 6, 2004

five gmail invites... any takers?

so, it has been a fine few days here in hiho-land. things are rolling at school, i finally got into a class. also, i ended up with many of the same old classmates from summer semester, so it will be fun. in addition, tommarrow dawns a new day in guezhen-ville. i begin my first official lesson on the guezhen at shida. also, things are turning up at 'growing garden' school. my first week was rather torturous, but i am starting to get the upperhand. earlier i had written an extremely long post about how horrible the first week was, and questions along the line of "how in the world do i get out of this mess". luckily i didn't publish this on hiho, things are looking much better.

this is growing garden

and this is by far the most dilligent and trouble free student; jessica. way to go jessica. here she is pictured all alone having her snack and doing homework while the others run rampade in the other room. i hope i can get her to enjoy herself more, she takes school a bit too seriously. especially for a 'non-school' school.

in other exciting news, luke, a.k.a. lucky dragons may indeed be coming to join us in taiwan for a short tour at the end of november.

if you are not familiar with lucky dragons, then i highly recommend familiarizing yourself now. right here. in addition, he may very well be working with yu wen and I on our film this fall entitled "where the wild cats poop". the premise being i have lived with the cat (mao) for over three months now, and have no idea where he fecates. not to mention the other twenty-something stray cats in our neighborhood. earlier last week, i was having illusions of granduer and somehow thought i could afford shooting on 35mm, and with a cat as the lead at that. however, i believe it may be back to the original plans of being a digital creative non-fiction peice for taiwans rather young and annual international childrens film festival. stay tuned though, their may be exciting new developments after next weekend when i try to contact junfu ma about doing an animation accompanyment. yes i know, rather ambitious for my first "non-student' student film, but it never hopes to try.

so, i guess the official plans and script shall unveil itself tonight, seeing as mahzhong night has just been canceled. speaking of, if anyone is interested in setting a day for a regular mahzhong night, let me know. two of the current participants are rather unpredictable, so i think its best to find another two. i can only live so long without yelling "hou!!"

also, soon i'll have enough time to get around to critiqueing the films i've seen at the tailly high film festival. i know, there is only one week left. unfortunetly i only have tickets to see two more, i believe i've seen each and every film with english subtitles, and more. for those that haven't seen any yet, i highly recomend seeing the 'if you were me' korean shorts tommarow at 15:40, and 'the beautiful washing machine' at 18:40 thursday. if anyone cares to join me that evening, i should like to be watching all three of "the best animations MIT" that very evening. *knock-on-wood*, i only have tickets for the second though. ok. gotta go. thanks for being a friend.

September 1, 2004

in the milky way

oh man, things are crazy right now. work is incredible insane, and i am about to have a nervous breakdown and haven't slept more than 3.5 hours one single night in the past two weeks. but, i will have time to complain about that later. other wise ive been great! seen lots of great films! um... i feel like creatively ive been able to expand in the last few weeks, and have made new friends, yu wen-chou being one of them. tonight we are seeing "the beautifull washing machine". actually, i have to leave in two minutes... i should go. yikes. anyhow, i just wanted to say hi. i haven't updated in awhile. but, monday, i bought 1,300 dollars worth of movie tickets. thats 13 movies i will see in the next two weeks. also, i am getting ready to start preproduction on a film. maybe i will mention more later, i certainly need to find someone to call and complain about my life and job soon though, my phone started working again today...